1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an integrated medical database system. More specifically, this invention relates to a medical database for the emergency medical transportation industry.
2. Description of the Related Technology
Current documentation procedures in the air medical transport industry are based on an inefficient paper and pencil technology. Important information is frequently collected on loose sheets of paper. In the environment of emergency medical transport, little time is available to neatly chart and document all pertinent and required information on a single document. Dispatch data, demographic data and clinical data are normally tracked as fragmented pieces of information which are later coalesced into a complete patient chart. In many cases, these data include the same information, thus forcing the input of redundant information. The resultant chart is therefore vulnerable to being incomplete and unreliable. In a medical setting, incomplete information can lead to disastrous clinical results.
This same technology is used to support industry quality improvement and billing procedures and submit letters of transport justification. This paperwork is usually carried out at a later date, prolonging account receivable times in many instances to the point of compromising and jeopardizing service compensation. Inventory stocking and tracking is similarly a victim of extended turnover times and is often incomplete and inaccurate.
The fragmentation throughout the medical transport environment is also evident in the myriad of entities throughout the country practicing different standards of care and documentation. As is the case in other segments of the healthcare industry, even seemingly simple tasks of communicating among the various entities, as well as among sections of a single providing entity, is severely hampered by the lack of a common communication format. This is especially evident when certain aspects of the system (such as computerized clinical laboratory result displays) have been upgraded with a uniquely tailored computerized system, while the remaining functions are still performed in an archaic manner. While the upgraded system may be effective for one singular aspect, such as dispatching, lab reporting, or chart dictating, the remainder of the system does not improve its effectiveness due to the other archaic components.
Although others have attempted to remedy this conflict, no fully integrated medical systems have been developed. For example, the Air Medical Software (Innovative Engineering of Lebanon, N.H.) provides computer software for dispatching emergency crews to accident scenes and managing flight information. However, it does not provide comprehensive integration of the flight information with a clinical diagnosis, billing system and administration system.
Air medical transport services suffer from a lack of understanding as to their effectiveness by governmental, academic and commercial organizations. A system is needed to collect solid statistics on how these systems can save lives and justify their existence and growth. Furthermore, medical crew evaluations and areas for improvement can be compared to known benchmarks after statistics on past service become widely available.
Therefore, what is needed is a comprehensive system that includes modules for dispatching emergency medical teams, tracking their movement to and from the accident scene, managing a clinical diagnosis and treatment and accurately billing the patient for the services rendered.